1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a locking plate for tensioning tire chains with the aid of a tensioning chain having a locking slot, and to an arrangement for tensioning a tire chain with the aid of a tensioning chain, wherein the arrangement comprises a locking plate and a pull-through bracket.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tire chains, which include, for example, nonskid and tire protection chains, are placed over the tread of a vehicle tire such that they come to lie in the region of the tire's footprint between the tire and the ground. Nonskid chains increase traction on slippery grounds, such as ice, snow or sludge or slush. Tire protection chains form a chain shield around the tire to prevent it from being damaged. Moreover, there are also combined forms, such as tire protection chains which simultaneously increase traction.
In particular with very large tires, as they are employed, for example, in trucks or in special vehicles on construction sites or in mining, the tire chains are often tensioned by a tensioning chain. The tensioning chain is lying in the region of the tire's side facing away from the vehicle body to the outside and extends concentrically around the axle of the wheel supporting the tire. The chain mesh of the tire chain allocated to the tread of the tire is connected with the tensioning chain at several points spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the tensioning chain by means of pull-through brackets. By tensioning the tensioning chain, the circle formed by it is reduced, the tire chain being thereby tightly pulled over the tread. DE 23 11 291 C2 and DE 193 80 15 U show tire chains which are tensioned by a tensioning chain.
With tire chains for large tires, very high tension forces are required to tightly pull the tire chain over the tread. Moreover, the tire chain is often tensioned on site under unfavorable circumstances. Tensioning a tire chain thus quite often involves a considerable amount of effort.
If the tire chain is not carefully tensioned, this can lead to damage to the tire chain or the tire and result in substantial downtimes. On construction sites or in mining, such downtimes can lead to considerable outage losses exceeding the value of the material to be replaced.